You can't build a boat until you can do this...

[Giulietta]

I am sorry the blog is in Portuguese, but the images are multi-language.

These boats, the Rabelo sailboat, were and are the traditional boats of Porto, North of Portugal, and they were used to sail up and down the river to carry the PORT WINE skegs from the producers in the Douro river all the way to the city of Porto or Oporto in English.

Look at the images....amazing...really...no gimmics, no hardcore tools, no glass no st60 nothing...man and ingenuity

Have fun. See it here

Ahhhhhhhhhh Portugal do meu coração, e das gentes valentes e fortes......

[Wannafish]

That is truly awesome! Thanks for the link.
Guess I don't have anything to whine about while refitting my boat...

[sailaway21]

Great link, Giu. And I'll bet the boat was delivered to her owner in half the time that it took to construct Giulietta! (g)

[TrueBlue]

That takes some incredible woodworking skills - no power tools, just old world shipbuilding techniques and brute strength. Thanks for sharing that link Giu.

Fortunately, many groups in this country remain sensitive to the nearly lost techniques of building and restoring wooden boats. One in Newport, RI is The International Yacht Restoration School, where students learn the craft of restoring classic wooden boats.

IRYS

[xort]

Was that a beneteau?

[Giulietta]

Originally Posted by xort

Was that a beneteau?

Xort, these guys have been building these boats long before Messieur Beneteau was jumping from his dad's left testicle to the right....

This is guaranteed a 100% wood boat, whose design is at least 500 years old...

[wind_magic]

Great link. Does the text say how they ripped the trees into lumber ? The first picture shows the tree coming down, the second shows lumber, and a later image towards the bottom shows a felled tree that has been halfway ripped, but I don't see any tools there for it. Thanks!

Again, great link!

[chucklesR]

to rip a tree by hand, you dig a pit, put the tree over the pit, one team gets in the pit, the other gets above the log - using a rip saw you literally saw the length of the tree - things like guides etc are all 'optional'.
My grandfather was a cooper (barrel maker) I spent summers from 6 to 16 (he passed the next winter) working with him, learning his craft. I didn't own a power tool until over 40 and built my first wooden boat three years ago. I'll own up to using an electric sander, but that's the only modern tool that touched my 11 foot sailing dinghy. Everything else I used were tools from my grandfathers shop.

[chucklesR]

Sometimes you split the tree with wedges to get your first planks out, depends on the size of the tree and how many people are working it.

[deniseO30]

those planks looked bandsawed to me. straight saw lines arcross the grain.. Love that rudder!! I am the only one wondering about the weather helm? Gui what kind of wood is that?